1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of material transporting devices and more particularly to a device that allows planar sheets of material to be strapped to the outside of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many homeowners and business people often need to transport large planar sheets of material from a point of purchase to a point of use or the like. Often the large planar sheets of material are 4′ by 8′ or 4′ by 12′, making it difficult to transport within the confines of a vehicle, requiring the sheets to be strapped to the roof of the vehicle. When strapped to the roof, the sheets often reduce visibility and, since most vehicles don't have an approximately 4′ by 8′ flat top, the sheets bend and sometimes break.
In vehicles with open beds such as a pickup truck, the open bed is often too small to hold the 4′ by 8′ sheets. Furthermore, even when the bed is large enough to hold the 4′ by 8′ sheets, there are often other objects being transported that impede the transport of the large planar materials. For example, a roofer may have a pickup truck loaded with asphalt shingles, nails, etc., leaving no space if a sheet of 4′ by 8′ plywood is needed to repair a roof.
It would be advantageous to carry the planar sheet of material on a side rack. There are many advantages including eliminating the requirement to have a 4′ by 8′ area of truck bed free for the planar sheet(s). One advantage is the amount of effort and strain required to place the sheets into the truck is reduced. Another advantage is reduced damage to the sheets of material. For example, when transporting sheet rock, a small hard object such as a bolt or nail lying on the bed of the truck can easily destroy an entire sheet.
There have been many attempts at solving this problem. U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,123 to Adamczewski, et al, describes an apparatus for transporting such planar sheets on the outside surface of a pickup truck. This device has brackets that are affixed to the outside surface of a vehicle configured to accept planar sheets as described above. Unfortunately, this apparatus requires attachment to the outside surface of the vehicle, creating holes in the cosmetic surfaces of the vehicle, reducing resale value, etc. Furthermore, this apparatus cannot be easily or quickly removed from the vehicle when not in use, reducing clearances when parking and increasing wind resistance and, therefore, reducing gas mileage when driving. Additionally, the described device is limited by its construction as to how low the bottom of the planar object can be positioned with respect to the ground surface.
Another attempt to solving this problem is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,768 to McNulty. The device described is removable, overcoming some of the short comings of the '123 patent, but this device requires a shoe that straddles the upper edge of the truck bed and such a shoe will wear the upper edge of the pickup truck, damaging cosmetic surfaces. Furthermore, the described device needs adjustments by way of a turnbuckle device to provide counter tension to the load.
Other attempts to solve this problem include U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,175 to Jackson which requires a complete frame system mounted into the stake pockets of the pickup truck. This frame system, if removed from the pickup truck, would be difficult to store. U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,951 to Moore describes a rack that folds, but it is not suitable for large, planar materials. U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,095 to Stevens describes a rack system for trucks, but this system is not easily removed and is designed for Vans, not pickup trucks or other open-bed trucks.
What is needed is a rack system that will carry a number of planar sheets of material on a side wall of a pickup truck and be easily installable and removable.